What do wildlife rehabilitators do with skunks?

Each year thousands of wild animals are found across the United States that are sick, injured, or orphaned and need to be cared for. Most people do not have the skills to care for baby squirrels, injured bats, or sick birds, but they don’t want the animal to die, so they look for a place that they could take these animals to so that they will be cared for.

Even a baby skunk most people do not want to see die off. They are going to be horrible animals when they become adults, but as babies they are quite cute and so many do not want to see them die off. So they wonder what they can do to care for them to take care of the animal. The best place to take them is to the wildlife rehabilitators that are in your area.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with these people and what they do, wildlife rehabilitators care for and help wild animals to prepare to return to the wild. It is a truly remarkable job that begins the moment you bring the skunk or other animal to them.

The first thing that they do is to perform a medical checkup on the skunk. These animals are like many other wild animals in that they carry diseases and parasites with them, and the rehabilitators do not want to subject other animals or themselves to the diseases that a skunk may be carrying. This is why they need to be checked and treated if possible. For those that o rabies, commonly found in skunks, they will often euthanize these animals because this disease is quite serious.

If there are injuries they are treated as well. The main purpose is to make sure that they are well enough to survive.

Once the animal is well, the next step is to put it into an environment where it has the best chance of survival. These professionals are well trained in finding the right place and aiding the animals return to the wild, whether it is a squirrel, raccoon, or even a skunk. They know the areas around where you live that are the best place to send it and they know where the animal will have the best chance to find food, shelter, and other necessities to make it.

In some cases, if the animal is not going to survive in their estimation, they may keep it around the preserve to increase its chances. A kind of pet to the workers there. In the skunk’s case, they remove its ability to be able to produce that horrible spray they use in their defense, so that it can be the kind of cute pet they like without turning on them.
Read more: Skunk Control, how to kill skunks.